Prep Wrestling: Hononegah cruises through 3A regionals

DEKALB - The easy question of whether fourth-ranked Hononegah would win the Class 3A DeKalb Regional team title Saturday was answered quickly: Yes they would. Handily.

The tougher question of how many locals would work their way into the top three at the regional, and thus take one step closer to the state tourney in Champaign by advancing to sectionals, took a little longer.

That wasn't answered until Hononegah's T.J. Babcock took fourth at heavyweight, leaving the Indians with nine sectional qualifiers. The other six area teams had eight individuals that kept their seasons alive.

"Staying alive is what it's all about," said Tyler DeMoss, Hononegah's 170-pound sectional champ. "I came in really wanting to win this thing and keep the flow going, but it's really about keeping your season alive."

The Indians advanced to team sectionals by waltzing to 234½ points, easily outdistancing second-place DeKalb, which had 158½ points, and third-place Dundee Crown at 152. After Alex Rader squeaked in with a 6-3 victory in the 106-pound, third-place match, senior Brady Powers really kicked Hononegah's roll into gear with a 12-4 win in the championship bout at 113.

"It was really important to me to win this tournament because it's key for next week's seeds, and I just didn't want a loss to break things up right now," said Powers, 27-8 on the season, with a NIC-10 and regional title to show for it. "Next week is when it really comes down to how hard you've worked at it, and how ready you are. Today, today got me a little more ready."

And he's not alone. The Indians also secured sectional titles at 120, where Brady's brother Keegan Powers (37-4) won the title with a 9-0 decision; at 132, where Christian Fausel avoided his 11th loss on the season; at 145, where third-ranked Fernie Silva (39-3) dominated, with two pins and a major decision; at 160, where Zack Benkovich (34-6) strong-armed Harlem's Jenner Hecox (35-6) during a 6-1 final; and at 170, where fifth-ranked DeMoss (36-4) used a pin and a tech fall to cruise to his title.

Jake Flower (25-11) lost out in his 182-pound final to Dundee Crown's Christian Brunner (38-3), and Rader (28-14) was the only Indian to win his do-or-die third-place match. Hononegah's rivals, Harlem, finished in fifth place (119 points) as a team, and left DeKalb High School with two individual champions - Kailor Hecox (30-2) at 195 and Sage Hecox (33-2) at 220 - and with five sectional qualifiers.

Junior Adam Zacharuk (29-9) was one of those who had to sweat out the wait for the third-place match. But once he hit the mat, he didn't have to wait long to secure his bid to the next round at 120.

"I was a little nervous, sure, I mean it all came down to that one match," said Zacharuk, who moved on with a late-first-period pin. "But now, I feel good for a couple more days. I have to use this whole day as motivation for next week, and keep it going."

East's Gunnar Morris (29-14) exacted a little revenge over Hononegah's Anthony Silva with a 1-0 victory for third at 138, and his teammate Alex Wilkinson (25-11) also advanced the hard way, pulling out an 8-2 victory in the match that had everything riding on it. Both admitted that the pressure mounted as the third-place match approached, but the key was to stay calm and go with what got you to that point.

"Absolutely, it's all about keeping yourself relaxed, and doing your thing," said Morris, who will be at sectionals with teammate Jacob Heavlin (10-1), who took second at heavyweight. "It was a lot of relief to get through that one and to get through to sectionals. But my goal is to get to state, and I'm not there yet."

Nobody will be until they finish in the top four at sectional meets Friday and Saturday. Jefferson, Auburn and Guilford's participants saw their seasons come to an end Saturday.

Class 2A

Freeport took six wrestlers to the Geneseo Regional, but the Pretzels will be taking half of them to the Pontiac Sectional.

"It was do-or-die for all of us," Anderson said. "We knew the situation: You win, you go to sectionals, you lose and you're out of it."

Rochelle's Joe Goshko took second at 132 at Geneseo, and his teammates Jeff Board (113), Joe Goshko (132) and T.C. Hager (145) were also runners-up, while Alex Eckhardt (152) and Jacob Scarbrough (160) earned sectional bids with regional thirds for the Hubs.

Over in the 2A Belvidere Regional, the hosts pulled out a fourth-place team finish, the tops for the three local teams, getting four individuals on to sectionals. However, Bucs coach Dan McNames couldn't help but talk about the chances that got away when it was all done.

"We lost five third-place matches, and those hurt a little bit," he said. "But those were all of our younger wrestlers, and they'll learn from that. The four who made it, earned it."

Justin McGady (7-5 win at 138) and K.C. Pavlak (3-1 at 152) earned regional titles for the Bucs, while Christian Arias took second at 120 and Simon Montez placed third at 220. Champs Alex Butler (16-4 win at 132) and Joe Bertolino (13-9 at 145) led the contingent of four Boylan wrestlers that advanced.

Psalm Fambro (a pin at 126) was the lone Belvidere North wrestler to step to the top of the podium, but three other Blue Thunder wrestlers made it through as well.

Jay Taft: 815-987-1384; jtaft@rrstar.com; @jaytaft

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